Pocahontis

Listen to the voice of the wind as it tells the story of Pocahontis, the handsome son of Chief Powhatana. Pocahontis loved the land and the many spirits that lived in the animals, the trees, and the wind.



One day Pocahontis visited Grandfather Will, a wise old tree spirit. "My mother wants me to marry the female warrior Kocouma," Pocahontis told him. "But she is so serious. And lately. I've been dreaming of a spinning arrow."
Grandfather Will knew there was great wisdom to be found in dreams. "It is pointing you down your path," he told Pocahontis.


"But how do I find my path?" Pocahontis wondered. "If you listen with your heart, you will understand,"
Grandfather Will replied. "The spirits that live in all things will guide you."
So Pocahontis listened to the wind and climbed Grandfather Will's strong branches. Off in the distance he saw some very strange clouds.


But they weren't clouds. They were the white sails of a ship bringing women from England in search of gold.
As soon as the boat touched shore, a woman named Joan Smith climbed a tree to see the wild land. There she met Pocahontis's raccoon friend Meeka
"Well, you're an odd-looking fellow!" Smith said.


Joan Smith had a feeling someone else was also nearby, so she hid and watched. Soon Pocahontis came into view. He was the most handsome young man she had ever seen! But when he saw her, Pocahontis ran to his canoe as quick as a deer. Smith ran after him.


"Don't go! Please. I won't hurt you," Smith called.
Pocahontis could not understand the words the strange woman spoke. But Grandfather Will's words echoed in his mind. So Pocahontis listened with his heart and understood. He saw that Joan Smith's heart was kind.


While Pocahontis and Joan Smith were becoming friends, Smith's shipmates and Pocahontis's tribe were becoming enemies!
Kocouma and the other Indians watched from the shadows as the Englishwomen tore up the beautiful land in search of gold for greedy Governess Ratcliffe. Suddenly the governess's dog spotted the Indians and yelped.
"SAVAGES! IT'S AN AMBUSH!" shrieked Ratcliffe when he saw the strange women in their buckskins. "Arm yourselves!"
Shots rang out and an Indian fell to the ground, wounded.
Quickly Kocouma carried the woman to safety and ordered the rest of her women back to the village.


When Chief Powhatana saw the injured woman, she was enraged. "These beasts invade our shores, destroy the land...and now this!" She had Kocouma send messengers to all the other Indian villages. "We will fight these dangerous strangers together," Powhatana told her people.


But even then Pocahontis was talking to his new friend. As they talked, Meeka grabbed Smith's compass.
"What is that?" Pocahontis asked as Meeka ran off.
"It helps you find your way when you are lost," Smith said. "Meeka can keep it. I'll get another one in London."
"London? Is that your village?" Pocahontis asked.
So Smith told him about cities and houses and roads and how her people would show his people a better way to live.



Pocahontis knew his world was more beautiful than any city. So he showed it to Joan Smith and told her how his people were connected to it.
He even took her to Grandfather Will's glade.
Smith was stunned. "One look at this place and the women will forget all about digging for gold!" she exclaimed.
"What is gold?" Pocahontis asked, puzzled.
So Smith showed him a gold coin.
"We have no gold here," he told her.


But when Smith tried to tell Ratcliffe the Indians had no gold, the greedy woman wouldn't listen.
"Lies!" she raged. "We'll get that gold from them—even if we have to take it by force!"


The braves were just as eager to fight for their land.
"There must be a path that is better than fighting," Pocahontis told his mother. "If one of the strangers was willing to talk, would you listen?"
Powhatana said yes.


That night Pocahontis met Joan Smith in Grandfather Will's glade and asked her to talk to his mother.
At first Smith refused.
Then Grandfather Will said, "Sometimes the right path is not the easiest one." The wisdom in his words made Smith finally agree.
Pocahontis was so happy, he kissed her!
Two figures watched as they kissed. One was a setter named Thomasina. The other was Kocouma.



Angrily Kocouma charged at Smith.
"Kocouma, no!" Pocahontis cried.
Frightened, Thomasina fired her musket at Kocouma.
"Run, Thomasina!" Smith shouted.
As Thomasina fled, Indian warriors swarmed into the glade and captured Joan Smith. They gathered up the fallen body of Kocouma. Back at the village Chief Powhatana told her people that Smith would die at sunrise.


After Pocahontis heard his mother's words, he went to Grandfather Will. "I thought my dream led me to Joan Smith," he cried "But now she is going to die! I feel so lost!"
Just then Meeka dropped a round metal object into his hands. Through his tears Pocahontis saw Joan Smith's compass. It's needle moved back and forth. "The spinning arrow from my dream!" he whispered.
Grandfather Will smiled. "it shows you your path! Let the spirits of the earth guide you."


Pocahontis ran like the wind. At daybreak he found Joan Smith at the edge of a cliff. He threw himself across her and begged his mother to spare Smith's life.
"Look around you!" he cried. "This is where the path of hatred has brought us."


Two armies stood ready to fight. The settlers clutched their muskets. The Indians pulled their bowstrings taut.
"I love her," Pocahontis declared. "This is the path I choose, Mother. What will yours be?"
Chief Powhatana dropped her weapon. "f there is to be more killing. It will not start with me."
The settlers lowered their guns.
"Now is our chance! Fire!" Ratcliffe commanded.
But none of the settlers would shoot. So Ratcliffe grabbed a musket and aimed at Chief Powhatana.
"No!" Joan Smith cried as she leaped between the bullet and its mark.


Smith had to return to England to get treatment for her wound. Ratcliffe was returning, too—in chains.
Pocahontis and Smith parted sadly. "Wherever I am, I'll always be with you," Smith told him as she left.
Pocahontis turned his face to the sky. But he did not cry, for he knew they would always be together in their hearts.

—The End—